


Time and Place

by belatedbday69



Category: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, Romantic Tension, a lot of back and forth, merula is bad at communicating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belatedbday69/pseuds/belatedbday69
Summary: After a bit of confusion, Merula and Avery Powell (player character) have their first date in Hagrid's Garden.
Relationships: Player Character/Merula Snyde
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Time and Place

**Author's Note:**

> Haven't written in first-person POV in a while. Avery Powell could technically be any gender because of this, but she's a girl in my head. Let me know if you like it!

_pumpkin patch. sunset.  
_ _merula_

After Potions class, Merula had made a beeline for me only to stuff a note into my hand and take off down the corridor before I could read it, before I could ask her, _what the hell is this?_ Does she want to talk? Does she want to fight? Is this some kind of trick? 

“Hmm, that is really strange of her,” Penny studies the note before handing it to Rowan. We’re at lunch. Roast beef and mash, but I haven’t touched my plate. “Ooo what if it’s a date?” She waggles her eyebrows at me. 

“It’s _Merula_ ,” Rowan says, matter-of-factly. “She probably wants to get you in trouble.”

“Or duel,” Barnaby adds. “She loves to duel.” 

I frown, nodding my head as I consider their answers. “She _does_ love to duel.”

“The important question is… what are you gonna do?” Tonks stares me down. “Look. Merula’s the worst. But we all know you two have some kind of… weird _thing_.” She keeps eye contact, almost challenging me. “Whatever that is, don’t you wanna, like, sort it out? Then you’ll know.”

Tonks goes back to her lentils, satisfied with her advice, as if there’s nothing left to say. She’s right, of course. We do have a… _weird_ thing, but what it is exactly is a mystery to me. There’s moments when she’s vulnerable with me, moments when I feel like maybe she’s changed, like she wants to be a better person. Other times, it’s as if we’re twelve years old and she’s so angry and cruel and hates the world. Then there are periods when she doesn’t talk to me at all. These are my least-favorite times. 

But a _note??_ What could it possibly mean? 

I spend the afternoon agonizing over it. My anxiety only increases as the sun starts to inch its way toward the horizon. Against my better judgment, I find myself going in the direction of Hagrid’s. I can always bail and hang out with him if something happens.

I get there early and decide to scope out the place. Nothing out of the ordinary, that I can see anyway. Pinks and oranges start to scatter across the sky. Just as I’m getting paranoid she won’t show, I see Merula emerge from the castle and head down the hill. Her hands are stuffed in the pockets of her ripped jeans and the wind picks up her flannel behind her.

When she walks up to me, there’s a strange, pained expression on her face. I quickly realize she’s waiting for me to say something. 

“How are you?” I watch her carefully. 

She nods. “Fine, how are you?”

I raise my eyebrows. “I’m okay… How are you?”

“You just asked me that, nerd.” She throws an annoyed look my way, but her tone betrays her. She makes her way to sit on the big rock in Hagrid’s garden. I jump up to sit beside her. 

What follows is silence. The sunset is really quite pretty, but it’s not why I came here. _I have no idea why I came here!_ I’m not really sure how much time has passed before I get the courage to say something. “Wh-”

“So how’s -”

“Oh -” I turn to face her. “What were you gonna say?” 

“N-no, you go,” she demands, refusing to look me in the eye. 

“I was just wondering, um…” There’s an inexplicable twinge in my stomach. “What are we doing?” 

“Chillin. Duh.” 

“Sure, but… why are we here?”

“You don’t like sunsets? Damn.” She keeps her eyes fixed on the sky. “Then you can plan the date next time.”

My jaw drops. 

When glances at me to gauge my reaction, she groans.“Don’t - don’t make it a whole thing.” 

I open my mouth to speak, then close it again. Almost to myself, I whisper, “Penny was right.”

“That preppy Hufflepuff girl?” 

“Yeah, don’t pretend like you don’t know who Penny is, Merula. She certainly knows _you_.” 

“Whatever. I resent that. No one knows me! I’m unpredictable.” 

“I certainly would agree. I thought you wanted to duel or something.”

“You’re right, that would make a better date… What are we gonna do, pick pumpkins or something?” She snorts, then turns to me. “You would tell me if you were having a bad time though, right?”

“Oh of course.” I lean back. “I’d be scared not to.”

“Hey!” She punches my arm. 

“Kidding! Kidding…” Her cheeks go red and she squints at me. I smirk. “I’d tell you the truth because I know I can be honest with you.”

“Good.” She looks away again, but I can see a hint of a smile on her lips. She narrows her eyes when she catches me. “What? What are you looking at?” 

“Just… taking in the sight of the most powerful witch at Hogwarts.”

She purses her lips to hide a smile. “I’d think you were making fun of me if it wasn’t an empirical _fact_. So thank you.” 

I shake my head, smiling. “You really do look lovely. I should’ve said that much sooner, since we’re clearly on a date and all.”

“Yeah, obviously, Powell. You’re off your game today,” she teases. “I guess I’ll let it slide this time. But just because… well, you, also, look really nice.” 

I bump my shoulder with hers. “Thank you Merula.”

She swallows hard then hops up, giving me her hand. “Let’s… walk around!” 

After she helps me to my feet, I slip my hand around her wrist to hold hers. Her head snaps in my direction for just a moment, her face a mixture of shock and fear before she turns away, just as quickly.

“Oh look!” She drops my hand and runs through the garden. “Fang!” 

Once I catch up to her, she leans into me to whisper, “Remember that time Fang got all scared when he saw a Fairy?” I can smell her shampoo, the scent of stale black tea on her breath. I don’t want to fuel the flames, but I respond anyway. 

“Yes.” 

She looks at me with mischief in her eyes, and my heart starts beating a little faster. “Do it. It’d be hilarious.” 

I throw my head back to laugh, the moment gone. Then I reach down to rub Fang behind his ears. In my best dog voice I say, “Aren’t you just the sweetest little man! The sweetest baby boy! Such a good boy, such a good dog.”

She turns away. “Ugh, you sound like an idiot.”

“Hm. And you say animals don’t like you?” I say as I stand and turn to her, but Merula has other plans.

“HEY FANG LOOK A FAIRY!”

The poor dog takes off faster than a bullet, ripping through the garden until he disappears behind Hagrid’s house. 

Merula holds her stomach as she cackles, pausing long enough to say, “Holy shit, that was HILARIOUS!”

“Yes, very funny, Merula.” I roll my eyes.

Once she catches her breath, she narrows her eyes at me. “You know, you could stand to loosen up. Have some fun.”

“Right, because not making trouble all the time isn’t _fun_ enough for you?” 

“You know, I _actually_ have some trouble I should be getting back to right now.” She taps her chin, as if deep in thought. 

A part of me knows she’s kidding, and a part of me is still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we’re on a _date. Merula and I. On a date._ “It is getting kind of cold… We could go inside, if you want.” 

“No…” Merula says, a little bit too quickly, immediately averting her gaze. “I’d like to stay out a little longer, if you wanted.” I watch her, waiting for her to turn back to me, but she doesn’t. 

“Okay.”

We continue to walk around the garden. Hagrid has all kinds of plants, squash and carrots and sunflowers, but it’s clear he doesn’t tend to it often. 

“This place is a dump. How does he stand it?” She bends down, gently pulling vines out of the way to reveal a small pumpkin hiding underneath.

I scoff. “Didn’t you think you cared so much.”

“I don’t!” She shoots back. “It’s just like - I don’t know. You spend all your time with him, don’t _you_ care?”

I shrug as I meander away, inspecting the conditions of the garden. The crops seem to be getting on just fine, anyway. I spot a patch of dandelions, still yellow with the last of summer’s sunshine, and pick a few for a bouquet. Handing them to Merula, she tries to hide her smile. 

“Thanks… Powell…” She eyes me suspiciously. “These are nice. Not that I care, of course.”

“Of course.” 

A shy smile lights up her face. She’s so pretty when she smiles.

* * *

It’s pretty dark now. We’ve migrated to the edge of the garden, idling silently in front of each other. 

“This was nice,” I say. She looks up, finally meeting my eyes as she nods. In a flash, she’s leaned in to kiss my cheek, quickly pulling away. 

Before I can respond, she says, “I’m hoping we can, maybe… keep all this between us, for now?”

I nod, instinctively stepping closer to her. “Mhm.” 

“Well… thanks, Powell…” She works hard to get the words out. “I’ll… see you… in class.” She gives me an awkward smile before turning away from me and booking it up the hill.

I can’t help but laugh. “See you in class, Merula.”

* * *

“So, what happened?”

“Did she want to fight?”

“Was it a trick?”

I sit at breakfast with the usual suspects, picking over our eggs and toast. I try to mediate the smile that’s been plastered on my face since yesterday evening. “She just wanted to talk.”

“What about??” Rowan asks, confused as ever. 

“It wasn’t too important. I freaked out over nothing, honestly.”

“Leave it alone, you guys, Avery doesn’t have to say anything…” Penny pipes up. 

"Dammit, Powell.” Tonks studies me, as if she can see through my flimsy facade. “Tell us what happened!”

I shrug. Tonks takes my silence as an answer and starts to voice her protestations, but I can’t hear her. Across the room, I spot Merula, her eyes intent on me, and a grin spreads across my face. She rolls her eyes, her cheeks burning, before smiling at me, too.


End file.
